- Spanish
police arrest 30 in cocaine bust operation. - Seize
almost 2.5 tonnes of cocaine hidden onboard. - Criminal
network used young swimmers to conceal drugs.
When Policía Nacional officers discovered 88 kg of cocaine
in a car in the southern Spanish town of Mijas in October 2024, the 15-month
investigation got underway. The narcotics led them to three gangs, one of which
was a Balkan cartel, who collaborated to transport massive amounts of cocaine
from Colombia into Spain.
“The gangs used the so-called ‘monkey’ technique to get
the shipments of cocaine into maritime containers that were being transported
on container ships,”
the force said in a statement on Thursday.
“The drug-trafficking technique involves using youngsters
from poor backgrounds who are good swimmers to get the drugs on to ships while
they’re at sea.
Members of the same organisation then headed to Spain in
order to get to the containers by intercepting the ships carrying them before
they reached the strait of Gibraltar.”
One such attempt was foiled in the middle of last year when
a ship headed for the port of Cádiz reported to the maritime rescue agency that
it had discovered stowaways on its deck. As a result, a container containing
1.4 tonnes of cocaine was seized. It found out that the stowaways were three
individuals assigned to retrieve the contraband before running away.
The drugs were subsequently transferred by road to other
European nations after being concealed in towns and villages along the Gulf of
Cádiz.
During the raid, police found eight luxury cars, boarding
ladders, maritime equipment, jewelry valued at €100,000, more than €166,000
(£144,000) in cash and watches, and 2,475 kg of cocaine and different assault
weapons.
On Monday the Policía Nacional announced its largest-ever
seizure of cocaine at sea after officers found almost 10 tonnes of the drug hidden
amid a cargo of salt on a merchant ship off the Canary Islands.
How did the swimmers recruit and transport the drugs to
ships?
The felonious network signed youthful individuals from low-
income families who professed insensibility, exploiting their athletic
capacities and profitable despair for the dangerous” monkey fashion.”
These rookies entered cocaine packages via lower support vessels in
transnational waters, far from plages.
Retrieval brigades in brisk boats also interdicted near the
Gibraltar Strait, planting fortified divers or hitchhikers to prize the weight
before harborage entry.
rookies faced drowning, hypothermia, and crew competitions,
with police noting previous Cadiz hitcher cautions leading to the 2.4- tonne
seizure across 30 apprehensions. This system finessed vessel reviews while
maximizing loads from Colombian origins.
